


In Legacy’s Shadow

by idrilhadhafang



Series: Palpatine Boy, Solo Girl [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: A New Hope Vibes, Alive Paige Tico, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Awesome Paige Tico, Ben Palpatine, Dark Rey (Star Wars), Dark Side Rey, Finn Gets A Big Damn Heroes Moment, Force Dyad (Star Wars), I Can't Believe I Wrote This, Interrupted Torture, M/M, Past Character Death, Past Rey/Ren (TROKR), Pilot Ben Solo, Resistance Member Ben Solo, Rey Solo, Rey is Not a Palpatine, Scavenger Ben Solo, Slow Burn Darkpilot, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, Threat Of Planetary Destruction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24413512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: What if Ben had been a Palpatine and Rey a Solo?
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Ben Solo, Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Palpatine Boy, Solo Girl [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1763002
Comments: 12
Kudos: 6





	1. The Pilot

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: I never thought in a million years I’d write this...

It was when Ben was heading back to Niima Outpost with his new part that he spotted the pilot. A very handsome young man, no, beautiful, Ben thought with a jolt, terribly striking, struggling across the sand. Ben nearly dropped his salvage; what was a pilot doing out there, let alone on such a desolate rock like this?

”Good thing you’re not in the Sinking Fields in the North,” Ben said wryly. “You’ll drown in the sand.”

The pilot swayed a little on his feet. “Didn’t think I’d find a scavenger out there,” he said.

”Didn’t think I’d find a pilot,” Ben said. “What are you doing out there? It’s dangerous.”

”Just escaped,” the pilot said. “Tuanul. There was a massacre.”

Ben had felt cold, now that he really thought about it. The chill — he’d never seen a winter planet before, or been on it, but he could imagine how it felt. 

Ben ran towards the pilot, steadied him. “Niima Outpost’s your best bet,” he said. "Food, medical supplies — well, you can’t really call the portions ‘food’, but you take what you can get...”

***

It was en route to Niima Outpost — and threatening Teedo to release the pilot’s BB unit as well — that Ben learned the pilot’s name. Poe Dameron. “I heard about your family,” Ben said. “I thought they were legends!”

Poe smiled at him. It was an arresting smile, Ben thought, the sort of smile that would most likely outshine Jakku’s sun. “Hope I live up to it, you know?”

”I’m certain.”

Meeting with Unkar Plutt was, to put it quite honestly, predictable. One quarter portion. At least before Poe spoke up. “Excuse me,” he said sharply, “But this young man risked his life to find something historical. I think he should get more than just a quarter portion.”

”What do you have to trade?” Plutt said. A critical glance. “The droid, perhaps?”

”Uh, no. He’s my buddy,” Poe said. “I have this...”

He handed Plutt some sort of bracelet from his jacket pocket. “From Tuanul,” he said. “One of the elders gave it to me...before the villagers were killed.”

”Tuanul’s gone?” Plutt said, and Ben could swear the Crolute actually sounded alarmed.

”Yeah. Barely escaped with my life.” 

”Well...my condolences,” Plutt said awkwardly, “About your family.” A beat. “Thirty portions. Don’t think this is a normal thing, Ben,” he said to Ben. 

Ben stared at Poe, taken aback for a moment. He didn’t think anyone had done this before, let alone for a scavenger. 

”So,” Poe said, “Your name’s Ben, is it? That’s a nice name.”

”Full name’s Benjamin,” Ben said. "Mom’s dad’s name.” A sigh. “My dad didn’t like to talk about his father.”

”Didn’t?” Poe said. 

”They’re long dead,” Ben said. “Both of them.” 

Poe bit his lip. “Sorry.”

”Not your fault,” Ben said. “Honestly, far as they know, they got sick of me.” He shrugged. "Left me on Jakku when I was five.”

”Their loss,” Poe said. 

Ben smiled at him. “You know, you’re a very interesting man, Poe. I didn’t think you’d actually be kind to me.”

”It’s what I do.”

They arrived at Ben’s makeshift home, the inside of an AT-ST that had collapsed during the Battle of Jakku. Poe raised an eyebrow. “You live here?” he said. 

Ben shrugged. “Not like there’s anywhere else.”

They made the portions, Ben scratching off a line on the wall where he had been tracking the days he’d spent there. Too many days. Too long. Ben served them. “Fair warning, they’re not very good,” he said. “You take what you can get though, at least on Jakku.”

”The more I see, the more I wonder why the Republic doesn’t do anything,” Poe said. 

Another shrug from Ben. “Probably don’t care, that’s what.”

”Harsh. Still, you’re not wrong.” Poe took a bite of his portion. “Not too bad. I’ve had worse, on missions...”

”You’re not from Tuanul, are you?” Ben said. 

”Yavin. Was on a mission and...ran into trouble. Kira Ren and her buddies.”

”Stang.” Ben’s breathing hitched. “You’re fortunate to be alive.” He’d only heard stories about Kira Ren, but the stories were bad enough. 

”It was luck, that’s all," Poe said. “Lor San Tekka, the guy I was on a mission with...he told me to run before she cut him down.”

Ben nodded. “I’m sorry.”

It was then that BB-8 started beeping frantically. 

”What is it, buddy?” Poe said. Then, “Oh stars.”

”She’s here, isn’t she?” Ben was at least familiar with droidspeak. 

”Yeah,” Poe said. “We can’t win against her. Best we can do is run.”


	2. Escape Route

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Poe narrowly escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Kira Ren wasn’t on their tail, not really. The stormtroopers were, of course, and even as Ben raced to the ships with Poe, Poe said, “I can fly anything! Don’t worry.”

Ben was glad, truly. He wasn’t a bad pilot himself — Mom and Dad had taught him when he was little — but he was glad, at least, to have a companion. 

”What about that ship?” Poe shouted, pointing to a YT model freighter. 

”That one’s garbage!” Ben said. “It hasn’t been flown in years.”

”That’s the _Millennium Falcon_ — ”

It was then that they narrowly dodged a shot from a stormtrooper, destroying the quad jumper Ben had been eyeing. 

”Fine!” Ben shouted. “The garbage will do!”

Kira and the other stormtroopers were gaining on them. It was there that Ben sprinted up the loading ramp with Poe, into the cockpit where Poe said, “Can you man the turrets?”

”No problem!” Ben said. 

They fired on the stormtroopers. One by one. It bought Poe enough time even as the _Falcon_ blasted into the sky. They dodged TIE fighters, Ben blasting them to pieces. And finally, they shot into hyperspace. 

***

Poe got out from the cockpit then, grinning broadly. “Nice shooting.”

”That was some flying!” Ben said. 

Poe shrugged. “I had good instructors. My mom, people at the Academy...”

”It shows,” Ben said. He couldn’t help but feel fluttery in that moment; who would have thought that in his twenty years of being alive in this galaxy that he’d actually feel that way around someone?

Ben smiled. Then, “So...where are we going?”

”D’Qar. It’s the...Resistance’s base.”

”So you’re with the Resistance?” Ben said. 

”Yeah,” Poe said. “General Organa got me enlisted. It was after...someone I knew, Rey, disappeared.”

”I’m sorry,” Ben said. 

Poe shrugged. “We had a weird relationship anyway. Sometimes I couldn’t tell if she liked me or hated me, really.”

”Still.” It seemed unfair, really, that someone as nice as Poe had to be hurt so badly. 

”Thanks.” Poe sighed as he spoke. “We’re on AutoPilot until we reach D’Qar. Till then, BB-8, my droid — he could fly this thing.”

Ben chuckled at the mental image. 

”We should rest,” Poe said. “I mean, before...y’know, we get to D’Qar.”

Ben couldn’t say he could argue with that. 


	3. Shadow of the Dyad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Poe reach D’Qar, and are caught up in saving the Hosnian system from eminent destruction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

_It was in the Force that Ben met Kira Ren, in his nightmares. He couldn’t say why they were meeting in the ruins of a burning Temple, but dreams were weird that way, he supposed._

_”You’re the scavenger,” Kira said. Her voice was filtered through her mask, giving it an eerie sound. It should have sounded beautiful, but instead it sounded harsh. “The man who escaped with the pilot and the droid. The Force must have lowered its standards to connect me with a mere desert rat.”_

_”Funny,” Ben snapped, “Because I’d rather be connected with anyone else but you.” A beat. “Assuming this isn’t just a strange dream. What is this place?”_

_”The ruins of the Jedi Temple,” Kira said._

_”Did you do this?” Ben said.  
_

_Silence. Kira seemed...more subdued, Ben thought. Why would she be subdued over murders that she committed? That was the question. “I good as did,” she said.  
_

_”Not exactly helpful,” Ben said.  
_

_”What do you want to hear? That I was never given a chance? That my grandfather was, but not me? That for every bit of good I did, I unleashed equal harm on the galaxy?” A beat. “What do you want to hear?”_

_”You expected people to just forgive you?”_

_”No.” A beat. “Just to understand.”_

The dream ended, and Ben shot awake, looking around the room in confusion. That had been a bizarre dream, he couldn’t help but think. Truly bizarre. Of all the people to connect him with, he hadn’t wanted to be connected with Kira Ren. 

Assuming that it wasn’t something his brain cooked up after being chased by Kira, of course...

He sighed. He wasn’t about to fall back to sleep. Not by a long shot. He got up, padding to the cockpit where Poe was. 

”You look like hell,” the pilot said sympathetically. 

”Well, thanks for that,” Ben said wryly. He supposed he couldn’t blame Poe for saying that, though. After all, he probably looked a mess...

"You okay?” Poe said. 

Ben nodded. “Just had a weird dream.”

”You look it.” Poe sighed. “We’re going to touch down on D’Qar very soon. Just to meet with General Organa. Hopefully we can get this map put together in no time...”

”You have a map?” Ben said. 

Poe shrugged. “I do. To Luke Skywalker. BB-8 has the last piece, to be more precise.” A beat. “He left six years ago. He was training a new generation of Jedi when this girl, Kira, pretty much ruined everything. Luke felt responsible and he just ditched us.” A beat. “Which sucks. It would have been nice to have his assistance against the First Order, you get what I mean?”

Ben nodded. Poe sounded so bitter, so very wounded. It made Ben want to comfort him. How the hell did you do that, though? People and aliens and droids had their own ways, but Ben wasn’t sure how to form his. 

"I guess we can’t do anything about it unless we drop off the map,” Poe said. “So...”

He clapped Ben on the shoulder. Ben felt his heart skip a beat in that moment; that at least was one way to comfort someone. 

”We should go,” Poe said. 

It was as they disembarked from the Falcon that a young woman, black hair in a ponytail, all but tackled Poe. “Poe!” she said. “I thought you’d been killed at Tuanul!”

”I’m okay, Jess,” Poe gasped. “Really.” Then, after Jess mercifully let him go, “I wouldn’t have gotten out alive if not for Ben.”

“Hi,” Ben said, waving a bit shyly. 

Jess looked him up and down. “Well, thanks,” she said. “Seriously. Poe’s my friend, and I don’t want to think of what would have happened if he...y’know.”

Ben nodded. 

Jess told them more. About how apparently there was a system destroyer underway. Starkiller Base. “A mole in the First Order told us,” she said. She looked worried, scared. “I don’t want to think of what happens when that thing’s fired.”

Ben couldn’t say he blamed her in the slightest. 

They headed in, and Ben knew he could rely on Poe, BB-8, and now Jess to be good people to rely on in this strange new place. 

***

General Organa was more than happy to see Poe again, of course, and grateful to Ben for bringing him back. “That was a very noble thing you did,” she said. “Bringing him home.”

Ben shrugged. “It’s what anyone would have done,” he said. 

”Way I see it, there’s no such thing as ‘anyone’,” Poe said, winking at him. Ben wouldn’t deny the way his heart skipped a beat at that.

It was General Organa who let Ben and the others know about Starkiller Base. “According to our mole,” she said, “A man who prefers to stay anonymous, Starkiller Base draws its energy from the sun. It’s about to fire on the Hosnian system...but there is hope for targeting its vulnerabilities...”

Ben listened. Took in the faces of everyone else, who looked tense. General Organa seemed afraid as well; Ben supposed after losing her own homeplanet of Alderaan, something like Starkiller Base was at least close to her worst nightmare.

”Commander Dameron will be leading the attack on Starkiller Base,” General Organa said. “Ben, the scavenger — he’ll be helping us too.” A beat. “And do bring my husband’s ship in one piece, Ben,” she said, smiling a bit wryly. 

”Will do,” Ben said, even as the others laughed, if only out of a desire to break the tension. 

***

Poe wouldn’t deny that he was nervous. Really nervous. Apparently, Jess’ fiancée, Paige, was going to set the bombs in Starkiller Base to make sure that they blew the place to hell. He hoped she came back safely; then again, he hoped that everyone came back safely, really. Everyone. Poe Dameron was always an advocate for everyone coming back safely. 

It was after speaking with BB-8 and reassuring him that yes, Poe would come back safely, as well as speaking to General Organa, that Poe met with Ben. “You know how to pilot?”

Ben shrugged. “I’ve flown some ships...though I never left Jakku until now.” A beat. “It’s surreal. I never thought that I’d actually be caught up in my own adventure. My own journey to save the galaxy — and ours.”

”Don’t have to think much about it,” Poe said. “I’m living it. I’ll see you.”

”Not if I don’t see you first,” Ben said, smiling. 

Poe winked at him before walking towards his X-wing. Ben was struck by how he looked in his flight suit. Orange and white, and it looked good on him...

 _Priorities, Ben_. Ben took a deep breath before heading into the _Falcon_. He could probably think about this later — when they didn’t have a whole system to save. 


	4. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interlude, with Kira.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

It was in her quarters on the _Finalizer_ that Kira Ren got a message from Supreme Leader Snoke. She could still remember when she had first come to him, after hearing him in her head at the age of twenty-three. She had always been aware of him on the periphery of what she was able to sense, but he had always stayed far enough away that Han Solo and Leia Organa couldn’t sense anything was wrong. That they could brush off any mutterings of their young daughter to herself as just nothing. In a bizarre sense, young Breha “Rey” Solo had found it comforting, especially when times got hard and she couldn’t even speak with Tai. 

Snoke all but seemed to loom even more in Kira’s confined quarters. “You failed to capture the pilot and the scavenger,” he rumbled. 

Kira kept herself straight, even though she couldn’t help but also feel ashamed. “I am aware,” she said. “I am...not proud of it.” A beat. “Supreme Leader — when I sensed Ben the scavenger on Jakku, the Force...pulled us together. In a nightmare.”

Snoke looked thoughtful. “A Force Bond,” he said. “Though I don’t know why the Force would have connected you with this desert urchin.” A beat. “The Force can be unique. There are many types of Force Bonds, young Solo,” and Kira couldn’t really fight the sharp pain that went through her heart at that name, “And this is no exception. The rarest is the dyad — a purely Sith connection. Worshipped in the circles of the Sith...”

Snoke seemed to have much knowledge of the Sith for someone who was not a Sith himself. He liked to say the Knights of Ren were “more than the Sith”, and Kira hoped they were. That she could be. She wanted to be the best, truly.

”If what you say is true about this man,” Snoke said, “Bring him to me.”

”What will happen to him?” Kira said. 

”That,” Snoke said, “Depends on the matter of your return.”

***

Kira was already in a foul mood by the time she reached the Finalizer’s hallways. The others gave her a wide berth; it was generally not advised to get in Kira Ren’s way when she was angry. She was not only skilled and powerful, but had a temper. 

”Ah, so the Lady Ren graces us with her presence,” General Hux sneered. “You’ve come to see the show?”

”I don’t think anyone’s impressed by your technological monstrosity, General,” Kira said coldly. 

“Really? I’d say it’s quite impressive,” Hux said. Of course, Kira thought; he was an arrogant weasel. No respect for anyone. “With the death of the Republic, the Resistance will have no one to come to their aid. Quite pragmatic, isn’t it?”

Kira could only suppose. It didn’t mean that Hux wasn’t a monster in addition to a weasel. 

”Yes, I’m certain that having half the galaxy angry at us is quite pragmatic,” Kira said icily. 

”They’ll be afraid. They’ll know what we can do. Besides...Master Skywalker did ambiguous things too, at best. The Resistance seems to be quite myopic regarding who they think should live and die.” A beat. “Including him, Ren.”

Kira froze. At least in some sense, Hux was right. After all, Uncle — no, Master Skywalker hadn’t hesitated to try and kill Rey Solo when learning of her Force Bond with her predecessor, Ren. She could still remember it too well.   
  
***

_The Bond had strengthened to the point that Rey was seeing Ren in her dreams. At least, that was what she could assume. She met him in the ruins of the facility where he said that he’d been scarred. An accident that had killed his Master, but left him alive. Rey could only imagine how cruel the Force could be, to preserve one and kill the other.  
_

_”Didn’t think I’d hear from you again, kid,” Ren said. For some reason, he called her that. He seemed to like calling her that.  
_

_”I’m twenty-three, you know,” Rey said. “That’s hardly a kid.”_

_”You live as long as I do, Rey...twenty-somethings seem like fetuses.” Ren was joking, but Rey could sense the pain that seemed to be festering beneath. He was the sad clown, the man who called her uncle names like “Jedi Man” while still grieving for his lost master and living too long.  
_

_”I suppose.” Then, “Ren...I have to leave. I’m not happy here.”_

_”Thought you were, with how devoted you were.”_

_”You were right,” Rey said. “The Light is a gilded cage...and it’s hard to be happy when you’re not free."_

_Ren looked at her. The way he looked...he could have been beautiful once, under those burns that seemed to discolor his skin.  
_

_”Now you’re getting it,” Ren said. “I gave you that offer on Elphrona because I knew you were unhappy there. You could be happy here. I couldn’t be happy with the Brilliance like you wanted me to. It’s hard to be happy when you’re not free.” A beat.  
_

_And as Rey reached out towards Ren to touch his hand — a burnt, discolored hand, but it didn’t matter — she felt a disturbance. Someone was in her head. Probing, prodding. And anger — genuine anger._

_The horror she felt, the guilt, when she saw Uncle Luke standing over her with his lightsaber ignited and his face all but twisted with a feeling of betrayal...it could not be understated._

***

Ren had been her first love, in a way. It had been hard not to be captivated by his confidence, his conviction. Snoke had ultimately pitted them together, had Kira kill him — and it was something Kira still regretted. 

She’d taken on the name Kira Ren partially out of a desire to remember him. 

It was a good thing that Hux couldn’t see under her mask. No one could afford to see. 

”You’ll have to excuse me,” Hux said. “I have to rally the troops.”

Of course he did, Kira thought. All that fanaticism, all that hatred — it had to go somewhere. 

Even as Hux walked away, Kira could watch from the viewport even as the redheaded General blustered his way through his speech. She couldn’t hear him. She could, however, feel him — the anger in him, the hatred for the Resistance. There had to be at least some semblance of a galaxy left to rule at the end of this...right?

And then she felt a tug in the Force. A subtle one, but enough to tell her that the Resistance had arrived. 

Hux, Kira thought wryly, was definitely in for a surprise. 


	5. Paige

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paige infiltrates Starkiller Base and makes an unexpected friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: Warning for interrupted torture.

The _Falcon_ came out of hyperspace to a vision of chaos, and something that Ben realized wasn’t a mere space station, but some sort of mutilated planetary monstrosity. 

It wasn’t supposed to exist. A planet-killer, made out of a planet. It wasn’t supposed to be there. But it was. And even watching TIE fighters swarm out of Starkiller Base like a plague of locusts, Ben could already feel his breathing catch in his throat. He had to focus, though. Focus on taking down Starkiller Base. 

Of course, could he do that when the planet-killer used to be a planet? 

”Paige is down there," Poe said over the comm system. "Her job is to get past the shields and blow up the base. And get our mole out if you can. Our job is to go in blazing.”

”I think the First Order’s bringing the party to us,” Ben said grimly. 

”No stang,” Poe said. Then, “Jess, Ben, cover me.”

”Will do,” Ben said along with Jess. 

***

Paige was nervous. Not like she hadn’t done this before; she’d gone on bombing missions before. But this was different, when a whole system was at risk of being wiped out.

It was when she was creeping along the corridor that she heard footsteps. Clanking footsteps, ominous ones. Paige ducked behind a corner. Phasma, she could see, and an ordinary stormtrooper with a bloody handprint on his helmet. Paige wondered idly who gave them that handprint, if it was a comrade or an enemy. 

”I know where you are, Resistance vermin,” Phasma said. “Don’t even think about hiding."

The jig was up. Paige tried to run, only for Phasma to stun her with a blaster bolt. 

***

“What did you think you were doing?” Phasma said to Paige even as the Resistance bomber woke, blinking away unconsciousness. “Either way, I’m going to enjoy what’s in store for you. Execution is too kind for Resistance savages like you. Let’s make this hurt.”

”Captain, please,” the stormtrooper with the bloody handprint said. “Don’t.”

Phasma drew out a funny-shaped blade. “It’s a Genoharadan poison blade,” she said. “Normally I’d go with something quicker, but it’s too good for a terrorist.”

”Do your worst,” Paige spat. She wasn’t about to beg. Not to Phasma. 

It was then that the stormtrooper with the bloody handprint drew his blaster on, of all people, Phasma. “The game’s up, Captain,” he said. “Let the bomber go and lower the shields before I shoot you in the head.”

”FN-2187.” Phasma’s voice was level, but Paige could tell that she wasn’t expecting that. "I should have known. There was something awfully suspicious about you at Tuanul...”

”Fooled you pretty well, didn’t I?” FN-2187 said. “Lower the shields and let the bomber go.”

It was after Phasma did so (surprisingly easily, Paige thought. Was she really that easily swayed?) that FN-2187 took off his helmet, nodded. He was handsome, Paige thought, with his russet reddish brown skin and expressive dark eyes. If she wasn’t engaged to Jess and otherwise not swinging towards men, she wouldn’t mind dating him. 

”You okay?” FN-2187 said. 

”Okay? That was...amazing,” Paige said, grinning. “Thank you.”

A shrug from FN-2187. “We just have to find out what to do now.”

”You can’t possibly think you can get away with this,” Phasma said. She was angry, though her voice was level. 

”Really?” Paige said. "Want to bet?”

***

It was after she and FN-2187 threw Phasma in the trash compactor that Paige sighed. “The shields are down, but Starkiller Base is going to fire any minute,” she said. "FN...wait, that doesn’t sound right. Just calling you a number.”

”We can wait until we’re out of here,” FN-2187 said. “But yeah...you can shut down the guns from there. Should give you and the others enough time to stop all this.”

Shutting down the guns was almost easy, especially with Phasma’s credentials. Paige grinned. “Kind of exciting,” she said. “Saving the galaxy.”

”We’re not out of the woods yet,” FN-2187 said. “I’m just glad I gave you the necessary information to destroy Starkiller.”

”So you were the mole,” Paige said. 

FN-2187 sighed. “I didn’t want to go against Kira Ren,” he said. “But Tuanul...you didn’t see it. The villagers were screaming, and they just cut them down.”

”Yeah. Sounds like the First Order." A beat. "My bomber ship...we can escape aboard there. And you’ll be safe with the Resistance. I know General Organa wouldn’t reject you after what you did.”

”I hope.”

Paige shrugged. “I just do.”

***

It was after hearing that Paige had gotten the shields down and was escaping with the mole that Ben heard Poe whoop for joy over the comm. Then, more seriously, “You’ll have to hurry, Paige. Once the base blows to hell, it’s going to blow to hell. Believe me.”

”Figured that,” Paige said (likely using her comlink to communicate with the others). 

It was then that Ben felt a chill. A terrible, sudden chill coming over him, like what Hoth would likely feel like. 

”Kira Ren’s TIE Silencer,” Poe said over the comm. “Best advice I can give you, Ben? Fly as fast as you can.”


	6. The Ceremony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and co. win the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: This series is far from over...

Even as Ben piloted the _Falcon_ through the trenches of Starkiller Base, he couldn’t help but think of speeding through the graveyard on Jakku. Speeding through tunnels, through wreckage, and so trying to avoid Kira Ren’s blasts was a lot like muscle memory. 

She scored in some close hits. The thing was that Ben wasn’t trying to beat her. Perhaps just avoid her as long as he could. Yes, that was the key. Land in as many blasts as he could, make sure that Poe got Starkiller Base at least chipped away. He wished, in that moment, that he’d brought a gunner with him. 

It was something that he knew he should have thought of. He would say that they made a good team, him and Poe, him leading Kira away from Poe —

He could feel Kira gaining on him. Gaining, because he felt that same cold. 

” _You think that your avoidance can make a fool out of me_?”

Kira’s voice. He could feel something else — hesitance to fire. Somehow, she and the Falcon had a history...

” _The Falcon belongs to me_.” Kira said.

_Come get it._

Ben could have sworn that he was just playing gizka with Kira — her gaining on him, him swooping out of the way. It felt, Ben thought, like a farce. Only ending when Jess shot at Kira, then Poe. 

She wasn’t dead. Ben would have known if she was, would have seen her ship exploding into a fireball. Instead, he knew that she had been stunned. He still wondered why she had hesitated to fire on the _Falcon_. If she’d known Han Solo somehow...

“You’re clear,” Poe said over the comm. “One last shot. Then we can go home.”

The planet collapsed in, becoming a star just as a bombing ship — Paige’s ship, from Poe’s exclamation of her name — emerged from the ruins. Ben could pity the planet even as it died; it had once been grand, he had a feeling. 

***

It was back on solid ground that Ben and Poe reunited, Ben taken aback when Poe ran to him and hugged him. He couldn’t say he was used to that, not since he was a child, really, but it was nice. It definitely felt nice, he thought, even as he awkwardly hugged Poe back. 

Hosnia Prime was truly beautiful, Ben thought. The vast skies, the buildings, and everything. He hadn’t thought, in the entire galaxy, that there would be so much grandeur; it seemed bizarre, really. To think he thought that he would never leave Jakku and see this. Now he was twenty, and he had seen it. 

Ben hadn’t heard any update on what was happening with the search for Luke, but judging by how General Organa looked, it didn’t seem good. (And felt, for lack of a better word. It was like her worry became his) She was speaking with Vice Admiral Holdo too, a beautiful purple-haired woman wearing a dress that seemed almost like it belonged at a dinner party. 

”You did beautifully, Leia,” Amilyn said. “Really. The Republic’s in your debt.”

A nod from General Organa. 

”She’s not really what I expected, Holdo,” Poe said softly. 

Ben snorted. “What part?”

”Y’know, the hair,” Poe said. “And the dress. Still...she’s gotta be something, pulling that off and still kicking the First Order’s cargo hold.”

”You’re something too,” Ben said.

Poe looked at him, clearly delighted. Ben smiled. He knew, of course, that this was a man that he already was growing attached to. 

”I’m glad I met you,” Ben said, grinning. 

Poe grinned back. “Right back atcha.”

***

Ben was at least glad to be out of his scavenger clothes. They were getting sweaty, filthy, and even showering the dirt off him, he couldn’t help but feel a sort of relief — and wonder. When was the last time that he’d actually been around water?

It was as he was getting dressed that brief images flashed in his mind (Kira, struggling from the wreckage of her TIE fighter, her mask half-shattered, revealing one hazel eye), before they vanished. The Force, connecting them again — why? 

Ben supposed it was no use really worrying about that. Even dressing, he found that the clothes given to him were actually quite fetching — a light blue jacket with a blue shirt, the symbol of the Republic on it, and dark blue pants. Combing his hair — Ben doubted he wanted to show up at the ceremony looking like a desert urchin, even if he was — Ben supposed that he did look presentable, for his part. 

It was worth the look on Poe’s face as Ben stepped out. “You look good,” he said. “I mean, for the ceremony.”

Ben wrinkled his nose. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

”It means the blue suits you,” Poe said, smiling. 

”You look good too.” How did he really describe the fact that Poe looked like one of those angels from Iego that people going through Jakku talked about, dressed in fancy attire?

”Thanks,” Poe said. “Come on, Ben — they’re waiting.”

***

It was Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo who presented the medals to the squadron (and Ben) who took down Starkiller Base. And even accepting the medal, Ben was still amazed, just knowing that he had helped. He, a scavenger from Jakku. And they weren’t done with the First Order yet, but they would give everything to the fight, whatever it took. 


End file.
